


thank god it’s christmas

by panaesheim



Series: SKAM Weeks—April 13-19, 2020 [3]
Category: SKAM (Norway)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Bisexual Eva Kviig Mohn, Christmas, Eva doesn’t like Christmas, F/F, Lesbian Noora Amalie Sætre, Noora does, Nooreva, Slow Burn, a little bit of domestic evak, ish, just a little bit of evak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:55:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23731939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panaesheim/pseuds/panaesheim
Summary: She turned to leave, and Eva was going to leave it at that, but she didn’t want to, for whatever reason.“Wait,” Eva said, Noora’s attention back on her. “You can come in, if you’d like. To talk or something. If you’re not busy.”Noora smiled. “I would love that.”
Relationships: Eva Kviig Mohn/Noora Amalie Sætre
Series: SKAM Weeks—April 13-19, 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1703905
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	thank god it’s christmas

**Author's Note:**

> this is actually my favorite fic of the entire week. I decided to take a break from evak and have some pure sapphic fluff with my two favorites girls, so here is a Christmas nooreva fic in April. I actually wanted to write this back in December but never got around to it, so now here I am, four months later, writing a gay story. Fun fact: noora’s decorations are actually based on something that happens every year where I live; this married couple puts out lights and displays and inflatables and everything you can imagine that is Christmas related every year and I got inspired by it when I went last year, so I decided to write a fic about it. also, there is a lesbian slur in this and idk if anyone is triggered by that but just in case. it is once again coming close to 4:30am so please ignore any spelling or capitalization errors because I’m tired :) enjoy my four month late Christmas fic

Noora loved Christmas. The feeling, the lights, the music, the people, the overall joy—everything was just a wonderful time. 

When she was younger, her parents turned their home into a winter wonderland. They set up lights and decorations at the beginning of December, and anyone could come there for free and just walk around. Her dad even dressed as Santa for the children—of course she didn’t know that at the time. 

They raised a couple hundred dollars every year through donations to keep this up, as people loved coming. The word spread around their town, and soon there wasn’t just a couple families each year, there were hundreds of people coming around each day. 

So when she started a career and inherited all of the old Christmas decorations in their garage, she also inherited their tradition. 

Noora has been doing this for a couple years ever since she moved into her neighborhood. Her neighbor, Isak, helped out by letting her use his yard for decorations, too. She met him back in high school when they were first years, but they weren’t very close. It wasn’t until Even, his fiancé, moved in that they actually started talking. 

It was November 29th when she started setting up the lights. She bundled up and trudged through the blanket of snow covering her front yard. That was the hardest part of setting everything up; the snow made it difficult to move around, but it paid off by being able to see happy children walk around and be amazed by the lights. 

She climbed the ladder to hang the lights. She felt like she was procrastinating a bit this year; usually she’d be halfway done with the setup, but she was just now starting merely two days before she “opened up.”

Once she climbed down the ladder after putting the lights, she glanced over at the house across the street. It was similar to hers, covered in snow, except no decorations. Not even a wreath on the door. 

Noora knew that not everyone decorated like she did, but Jesus Christ, there was  _ nothing  _ festive about that house. It was dark and plain.

A girl emerged from the house, bundled up like Noora was. She had brown-red hair going down past her shoulders, and her face was halfway covered up with a scarf. 

Noora waved when she saw the girl look at her, but the girl just kept walking to the edge of the curb. She started to nail a sign into her yard, and once she started walking back to the entrance, Noora could read it; “NO PARKING.”

Just as she reached the front door, the girl turned back, waved, and entered her house again. 

Not everyone liked Christmas, Noora guessed, and walked back inside to escape the cold. 

— — —

Eva didn’t like Christmas. 

No, that’s too vague. She  _ hated _ Christmas. Everything about it was just... disgusting wasn’t the word... unpleasant, maybe? The lights were too bright, the stores were too full, the music was annoying and repetitive, the people she knew were more stressed than relaxed, the children were too hyper, the so-called joy was just a front for everyone’s underlying emotions they felt the rest of the year, and after Christmas, everyone would go back to hating each other like they usually did for the other 364 days. 

So yeah. Unpleasant. 

She knew other people that felt this way, although their dislike wasn’t as strong—the guy who lived across the street, Isak, used to not be as big of a fan until he met his fiancé Even, who loved Christmas. Her ex, Jonas, hated it but for entirely different reasons than she, something about it being capitalism fueled and just a way for companies to get richer while people still lived on the streets. She didn’t listen to him very much, which she realized towards the end of their relationship, that being one reason amongst the other one thousand reasons to break up with him. 

Eva didn’t always hate Christmas, though. As a child, she loved the holiday; it was the one time her parents stopped fighting.She just had one too many bad memories tied to the holiday, so it wasn’t for her anymore. 

So, naturally, when the new girl moved in across the street and decorated her house in Christmas lights a couple years ago, she hated it. She hated it even more when people came by every year to look around. 

Eva thought it would end after that year. She and Isak both agreed to go over to talk to her about it when January rolled around, but that was about the time Even moved in with him, and Even adored the new girl, so Isak backed down. Actually, according to Isak, the girl has only ever introduced herself to him and Even, which was strange. 

Eva wasn’t going to go by herself, because she knew she would either yell at her or start crying, and Isak was supposed to hold her back from both. So she let the tradition carry on. And then the following year, people started parking in her yard to go to the girl’s house, so she bought “NO PARKING” signs as soon as it hit December 26th to put up the next year, which was now. 

She wrapped herself into a big, duvet-like coat, a beanie, and a scarf, grabbed her hammer and her sign, and walked out. The wind hit her exposed cheeks and she felt them turn red, shivers already running through her body. 

She looked across the yard at the girl climbing down from the ladder. There were only small lights on her house, no big inflatable decorations or really anything that was usually up by now. 

The girl looked over and waved. She had platinum blonde hair and vibrant red lipstick that Eva could see from here. She blushed and went back to what she was doing, too flustered to wave back. She nailed in the sign and walked back to her front door. 

The inner guilt was eating at her, so without thinking, she turned back to see the girl still looking over. She waved, and this time it was the girl who didn’t do anything. 

Eva felt like an idiot for turning back. She should’ve just left it as it was. After all, the girl was the one who didn’t come by and introduce herself when she first moved in. Then again, wasn’t it the neighbor’s responsibility to welcome the new person?

Eva took off her garments, flopped down onto her bed and soon fell asleep, thinking of blonde hair and red lips. 

— — —

Noora didn’t mean to not meet the girl next door. It’s not like she didn’t have enough time; it’s been almost three years. 

She had only met Even and Isak since they were right next door. They even came by to help clean up and put everything away for next year. Even fished out a huge donation for her that year. Isak wasn’t too happy about this. 

When she met Isak for the first time since high school, she got the feeling he didn’t like her very much. He greeted her with a forced smile and politeness that was the kind you give to people you don’t like but still don’t want to hurt their feelings. But then Even moved in and he was nicer to her. Isak even came by and told her it was okay for her to use their yard for her decorations the second year. 

It was rolling around christmas again the third year of her living there and she still had only met Isak and Even. Or, more accurately, those were the only neighbors she  _liked_.  She had met her neighbor on the other side of her, who was a creep that still used his popularity status in high school as a way to get girls to go out with him, Noora now knows from personal experience. 

She asked about the girl across the street once when she was hanging out at the couple’s house back when she first met them. “She’s cool,” Isak said very vaguely. 

“She’s super funny and smart. She’s sort of sarcastic, like Isak, but you’d get used to it. You’d like her, I think,” Even explained, setting a plate of snacks on the coffee table. 

“Do you think I should go over and meet her?”

The two guys looked at each other, and after Isak glanced down at the kitchen counter, Even said, “Maybe not right now.”

“Well, why not? Maybe she can come to my house for the lights. I can make her hot chocolate,” Noora was already planning what she could do for her neighbor other than hot chocolate. She could bring over a cake, maybe? Or was that too much?

“She doesn’t really like this time of year,” Isak said as he sat next to even, the latter immediately wrapping his arm around his shoulders. 

“Why not?” 

He shrugged. “As long as I’ve known her, she’s never liked Christmas or anything to do with it.”

“Huh. That’s weird,” she leaned back in the chair and thought about it. She still wanted to be nice to her, even if they didn’t share this passion for Christmas. 

But after that, she never thought about greeting her again. 

— — —

_ “No daughter of mine is a dyke.” _

_ “Dad, please—“ _

_ “No, no! I will not have this.” _

_ “Honey, you should sit down—“ _

_ “You don’t tell me what to fucking do. Let the fuck go of me.” _

_ Eva couldn’t stop the tears from running down her face. Her mother looked at her with a look that was a mixture of disgust and disappointment before she went after her husband.  _

_ Eva rubbed her face dry. She felt like screaming and running away and yelling and dying and all of the emotions were just  _ pouring  _ out of her eyes. She couldn’t stop it.  _

_So that afternoon, as she looked at the family photos at the bottom of her_ trash can, _she exited her house for the last time._

— — —

“Even, you said last year-“

“Doesn’t matter what I said last year, Noora.”

“Yes but the other guy bailed and you’re kind of my only option here. We both know Isak won’t do it.”

“Isak’s not built for that. He’s too tiny.”

“I have ears, you know!” Noora heard Isak yell from the kitchen. 

“Please just do this for me. It’s the only favor I’ve ever asked from you,” Noora looked at the blonde with pleading eyes. 

Even thought about it for a minute, she could tell. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, his head rolling back to hang off the back of the couch. Isak came by and sat with his back against the arm of the couch, curling his toes under even’s thigh. 

“I think you should do it,” Isak said, sipping on his coffee. 

“You too?” Even looked over at him, Isak responding with a shrug. 

“See, majority rules, Even, you have to do it now,” Noora said matter-of-factly, Even pursing his lips and rolling his eyes. 

“You know what? fine. I’ll do it.”

“Really? Oh my god Even, thank you so much!” She jumped up and hugged him, halfway into his lap. He chuckled and hugged her back, feeling a wide smile on her shoulder. 

“I’ll drop off the costume tomorrow. Oh my god, the kids are going to love you!” Noora grabbed her bag and couldn’t get rid of the smile on her face. “Thank you, really, thank you!”

Even smiled wide and the couple on the couch waved goodbye to her. 

“So, Santa Claus, huh?” Isak smirked behind his coffee cup when the door had shut behind her. 

“Shut up.”

— — — 

Eva woke from her very brief nap with tears in her eyes and wet marks on her pillow. 

She wasn’t a fucking lesbian. She was fucking bisexual and she was fucking proud. No matter who tried to push her down. 

She sighed and pushed herself up, looking at herself in the mirror beside her bed. Her eyes were red and puffy, her hair was a mess and she had sleep marks streaked across her face. 

She rubbed her face to get some energy back. It was already well past noon and she had done nothing. When they said working at home was easy, they never mentioned how hard it was to gain motivation to actually do something productive. 

She walked around her kitchen, mindlessly procrastinating until she eventually had to sit down and start work.

As if the universe was treating her today, she heard a knock at her front door. She almost smiled at the distraction. 

Eva rushed to her bedroom to pull on sweatpants and a hoodie over her small tank top that she was sure whoever she was greeting didn’t want to see. She walked quickly to the door, and with the widest smile she could muster, she opened it. 

There stood the girl across the street, bundled up like earlier with a cup in her hand. 

“Hi,” she said, her eyes crinkling at the ends.

“Hi,” Eva felt a bit embarrassed under her gaze, because she knew she looked a mess. “Sorry, I just woke up, I don’t usually look like this.” She laughed nervously. 

“No, you’re fine,” The girl was blushing darkly, her eyes trailing over her face and torso. She was nervous, which Eva felt bad about being glad over, but she was just happy she got an excuse to look at her neighbor up close. Pale skin with dark eyes and red-stained lips, the girl looked magnificent against the white backdrop of the ground, her features shining brightly. “I’m just coming to introduce myself. I’m Noora.”

“Eva,” she shook Noora’s outreached hand and her fingertips were freezing, but Eva knew the tingle that ran up her spine wasn’t from the cold air coming in. 

“Also, here’s a cup of hot chocolate. I’m sort of know for it,” Noora smiled and handed her the cup. The cup was warm against her cold hands, and she thanked her. 

“So,” Noora looked around for a second before her eyes settled back on Eva. “I’ll be on my way.”

She turned to leave, and Eva was going to leave it at that, but she didn’t want to, for whatever reason. 

“Wait,” Eva said, Noora’s attention back on her. “You can come in, if you’d like. To talk or something. If you’re not busy.”

Noora smiled. “I would love that.”

— — —

Eva invited her in, and Noora didn’t really know how long she intended on staying, but right now, she knew it was way past an hour since she sat down, and honestly? She didn’t mind. 

When she first walked in, though, Noora felt out of place. She stood awkwardly by the doorway as Eva apologized for the mess and started cleaning up her kitchen, which gave Noora time to look around. 

Her kitchen somehow looked smaller than her own kitchen, which was strange, considering the fact she was pretty sure all of the houses in the neighborhood had identical or at least similar floor designs. Her’s and Isak’s house were similar, so she was just assuming. 

Her eyes glanced over the items on the fridge, various magnets and calendars and invitations and important dates adorning the door. A photo booth strip was held by an Oslo magnet and it had pictures of her and Isak. They made faces with their tongues sticking out of the sides of their mouths and looked significantly younger. There was another strip hanging next to it but with a different boy, with dark curls and a bright smile. In the last picture, he was kissing her cheek, Eva’s grin engulfing her face. 

There were other pictures, mostly of her, Isak, and the other boy, but there was one polaroid that stuck out. The two main people in the photo, who Noora struggled to identify, were standing in front of the beach, the sun setting behind them, creating a gorgeous hue of color around the pair. The one on the left had their arm wrapped around the shorter one’s waist, and when Noora looked closer, she noticed their foreheads together, identical smiles on their faces. The taller girl was Eva, but Noora didn’t know the other one. 

“Do you want anything? Water? Tea?” Eva interrupted her train of thought when she finally finished cleaning. 

“Um, tea would be fine, if it isn’t a problem,” Eva started towards the stove before she noticed Noora still standing and holding her coat. 

“You can put your coat on the rack, and have a seat,” she pointed to the coat rack behind her that held scarfs and jackets. 

As Eva prepared the tea, they chatted, talking about careers and hobbies. Eva was an editor for novels and magazines who worked from home. She liked photography as a teen but was pushed towards a boring office job, so she instead applied for a job as an editor just to be stubborn. 

“How’d your parents take it? You not getting into the career path they wanted?” Noora had asked as Eva stood by the stove. 

Eva’s cheeks flushed and she looked down at her feet, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. “I don’t really know.”

Noora tilted her head to the side, confused. “How do you not know?”

“Um...” Eva struggled to think of something, Noora could tell from her scrunched eyebrows and her nervous, small laughs. She opened her mouth to say something, but then the tea kettle started to whistle. “Tea’s done!”

Noora made a mental note to not mention anything about her parents again. 

They kept conversation light, getting more and more comfortable around each other by the second. 

A comfortable silence settled between them, the only noises in the room being the two girls sipping their tea. Noora looked at Eva through the corner of her eye, watching her movements. She set her cup on the table and sighed almost silently, crossing her arms and leaning them against the table. She looked around the room before her eyes slowly landed on Noora, for which the blonde looked away hastily, a blush forming on her cheeks. 

Eva tried to hide the smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “So, if you don’t mind me asking,” Eva broke the silence, “why did it take you so long to come meet me?”

Noora felt the red on her cheeks grow darker. “Um...” she tried to think of a reason why. There really was no particular reason, but she couldn’t blame it on her “full” schedule, and she couldn’t accuse Eva for not being the first one to introduce herself. “Isak and Even told me not to.”

Eva furrowed her eyebrows. “Why?”

“They said that you didn’t really like the holidays all too much, so they told me to come meet you another time, but I never got to it. It’s not that I was busy, it’s just that... well I don’t really know why.” She laughed nervously. “I kept making up excuses for it, kept pushing it back further and further, and now it’s been like, what, three years? And I’m just now meeting you. And you’re lovely. I don’t understand why they told me that you didn’t like it during this time, because you seem nice? Maybe they were overthinking it. I don’t know. So yeah. There you go.”

Eva was smiling widely by the end of Noora’s rant. She made a face, trying to portray playful confusion, even though she was scared of what Eva was going to say. 

“Well,” eva began, “they were right about the holidays thing. But it doesn’t make me cold towards people. Just them.”

Noora didn’t know it was a joke until Eva glanced up at her. “I’m just kidding. I’m not really cold to anyone, in my opinion. They’re intentions were good, I bet. Isak has sort of been looking out for me since high school. Other than the time he ruined my relationship with my boyfriend. But that’s besides the point.”

Noora looked up at her, wide-eyed. “Seriously?”

“Yeah,” Eva sighed, “it’s a long story, but basically he had a crush on my ex, Jonas, and we were already having problems, me and Jonas. Anyways, I cheated on him and I told Isak about it, so he told the guy’s girlfriend. In the end we broke up. But it was for the best. We had a ton of existing issues, sonthat was just the last straw, you know?” 

Noora nodded. “Is that the guy in the pictures on your fridge?”

Eva turned to look at them, almost as if she forgot they were there. “Oh, yeah, from high school. I really liked them,

so when I moved here I decided to put them on my fridge. Isak made fun of me for it, but he has an identical picture on his fridge, so he can’t say anything.”

“And who’s that?” Noora asked the question she’s been trying to figure out herself since she saw the unclear polaroid of Eva and someone else. 

“Oh, that’s, uh...” Eva stuttered a bit, “that’s my ex-girlfriend.”

Noora’s heart skipped a beat. She’s never met someone like her. Well, there was Vilde, who she was ninety-nine percent sure was a lesbian, but she never said anything about it. 

“You’re gay? Or bi or something?” Noora asked carefully, as if Eva could get offended in any way at anytime. 

“Yeah. Bisexual.” Eva looked almost as anxious as Noora felt. Should she tell her that she was a lesbian? She debated internally as Eva looked down. 

Noora sucked in a breath. “I’m a lesbian.” 

Eva didn’t flinch like Noora did. She just nodded and stood, putting her cup in the sink. “Cool,” she said, leaning against the counter. 

There was another silence, except now it wasn’t so comfortable. There was tension Noora couldn’t label, something happening between them that she couldn’t decipher. 

“Well, this has been fun,” Noora stood, finally getting tired of the somewhat awkward silence. “I’ll see you again?”

Eva’s eyes dimmed. “Oh, yeah, that’s cool.”

She smiled and noora matched her expression. She grabbed her coat and turned back to look at her one last time. 

“Can I have your number?” Eva’s voice was small compared to what she has sounded like the rest of the day. 

“Yeah, sure,” they exchanged numbers and said goodbye with a hug. Eva’s hands lingered on Noora’s upper arms, making the latter blush and slightly pull away. 

With one final wave, Noora exited the house, walking through the snow, the smile on her face never leaving until she entered her own home. 

— — —

“Fuck, Even, hurry up!”

“If you keep yelling at me I’m going to stay in here as long as I can.”

Noora rolled her eyes, turning away from the bathroom door and returning to the living room. She paced around her living room, anticipation and excitement and nervousness and the urge to throw up coursing through her veins. 

Isak was no help. He sat on the couch, scrolling on his phone and occasionally saying comforting words that they both knew he didn’t really mean. She went through this every year, the main attraction of her light show always giving her anxiety that she couldn’t calm down, no matter what her peers said. 

“It’s his first time doing this, of course he’s gonna be embarrassed,” Isak said, a smirk on his lips as she assumed he was imagining his fiancé in a Santa suit. 

Noora sat on the couch opposite of Isak, forcing herself to calm down. Everyone was going to love Even. She knew it. Who didn’t? So why was she so nervous?

She decided to distract herself with conversation. “Hey, you know who I’ve been talking to lately?”

Isak hummed in question, not looking up from his phone. Noora fought the urge to roll her eyes, and instead said, “Eva.”

That grabbed Isak’s attention. “Eva? Like, my Eva? The Eva across the street? That eva?”

Noora nodded. Isak widened his eyes. “Seriously? For how long?”

“Just a couple of weeks. I stopped by to introduce myself, and we talked for hours. We exchanged numbers and gone out together a couple of times. She’s super cool. Even was right.”

“When is Even not right?” Isak scoffed. “Also, together? As in  _ together  _ together?”

“No. She made it very clear to me that she wasn’t interested in a relationship.”

That was actually a lie. Eva hadn’t said anything about her relationship status. But Noora didn’t want to get her hopes up like she has multiple times in the past, so she told herself this lie every so often. She didn’t want to fall for someone that didn’t like her back.  _Again_. 

The thing is, Noora has been feeling... feelings for Eva. Everything about Eva just screams “oh my god please date me now.” She has the prettiest smile and the nicest eyes and she’s so funny and cute and smart (although she doesn’t give herself enough credit for it) and is so fun to be around. 

When she first started realizing she was attracted to Eva, she imagined what it would be like if they lived together. Late at night, she’d imagine Eva was behind her, her arms wrapped around her waist, her mouth open and releasing snores. They’d wake up in the morning and lay in bed, their hands and their legs together as they shared soft kisses. The kind of kisses that made your heart clench and your stomach tie in knots and your toes curl. The kind of kisses that say “I love you” and “I want to be with you forever” and “I miss you even though you are right here next to me.” The kind of kisses that you know you want to have forever, and you can’t stop kissing her because she’s the one, the one you’ve been waiting for, the one who you should have kids with and grow old with and die with. Noora wanted to die next to Eva. 

But she realized that was stupid when they went out for the first time and Eva couldn’t stop going up to random women and kissing them. She remembered how hurt her heart was as she walked home alone, not even alerting a drunken Eva about her exit because the woman of her dreams was sticking her tongue down someone else’s throat. Because the woman of her dreams was taking her shirt off and kissing someone else, running her soft hands through someone else’s hair, kissing someone else’s neck and touching someone else’s chest. Undressing someone else and smiling with someone else and making love to someone else. Not Noora. 

So when she knew Isak noticed she was lying, because of course she was lying, she was scared of what he’ll say. He’s known Eva for years; he knows a bullshit lie about his friend when he hears one. But he didn’t say anything. Well, he couldn’t, because his boyfriend walked in the room, all too grumpy to be Santa Claus. 

“I look dumb,” was Even’s first words. Isak bursted out laughing and Even blushed. The beard looked way too fake and the suit was too big for his lean figure. His shoulders weren’t wide enough and the belt hung loosely. 

“Oh my god, that’s the best thing I’ve ever seen,” Isak pulled out his phone and took a picture. Even stared daggers at his fiancé. 

“Noora, I’m going to kill you,” Even said, turning his attention back to the blonde. She was grinning wide, looking at Even with an amused expression. 

“You look-“ she covered her mouth to stop laughing, “you look great, Even.”

Isak was still laughing when noora jumped up and clapped her hands. “Alright! I’ll go outside and text you when you can come out. Should be about ten minutes, but still wait around for a text.”

She left the house and walked into the cold, rubbing her hands together to heat herself up. 

The kids around her yard had no trouble keeping heat, however, because they were running around her house, looking at the various displays and lights she had set up. Families had smiles plastered over their faces as they walked through Noora’s winter wonderland. 

The display was larger than the years before, now expanding to Isak’s neighbor who she wasn’t quite sure who it was. She bought more decorations and Even helped out, although she knew he wouldn’t have if he had known what she had in store for him come around Christmas time. 

Eva’s house still had the sign sticking up in the yard, Noora noticed when she looked over. It was empty as ever, save the car in the driveway. Noora had been secretly hoping Eva would stop by like she had mentioned at their last get together, but no such luck, and the chances were getting slimmer as the days got shorter along with the days leading up until Christmas. 

She turned back to her guests, some leaving but some just now arriving. She pulled out her phone and saw one unread message. 

_ eva: hey, does that offer to come over still stand? _

Noora smiled widely and her heart skipped a beat. She bit her lip and wrote a response. 

_ noora: please come over now. you will not regret it _

She left that message chat and went to Even’s telling him it was time to come out from the back door of her house. 

Isak came outside a few minutes later, his hands in pockets and majority of his face was covered by his maroon scarf. 

He walked up to Noora. “Even‘s just mentally preparing for total humiliation. He’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Noora smiled and looked out at the big group of families walked around. Some stopped by the pair who was observing and complimented Noora’s work. Some of them gave a donation directly to her instead of the box beside the new extension section of her lights. 

“You two make a great couple,” an elderly lady said to them, her grandson in awe as he looked around. 

They didn’t correct her but instead laughed when she walked away, both of them way too gay to be into each other. 

“Speaking of couples,” Isak said once they calmed down, “you said earlier that Eva wasn’t looking for a relationship, right?”

“Yeah, why?” Noora looked over at the boy who had an expressionless face. 

He smiled. “Because lately she’s been talking about a girl that she’s met earlier. She said that the girl is really pretty and funny and smart and that she thinks she might start to have feelings for her. She didn’t tell me a name,” he looked over at a speechless Noora, “but I think it‘s you.”

Noora’s heart was racing but she didn’t get a chance to speak when she heard a familiar voice behind her. 

“So, what will I not regret?”

The pair turned to see Eva coming up to them, wearing a dull yellow scarf over a white sweater. 

She walked up to Isak and hugged him, greeting him and smiling. She hugged Noora too, although her hands lingered on Noora’s back longer than on Isak’s. 

Isak was smiling suspiciously when they both turned back to him. Noora blushed, knowing what he was thinking. 

“What are we waiting around for?” Eva asked, breaking the silence. 

“Just wait, he’ll be out in a few seconds,” Noora walked in front of them and coerced the children to gather in front of the small gate leading into her backyard where Even was supposed to appear. 

“Are you ready to see someone special?” The children cheered and Eva smiled in the back, looking at Noora talk to the children. 

Even came out just in time, his mood significantly happier and brighter than when he was in the house. He greeted the children and walked over to the chair he was supposed to sit in for the next few hours, letting kids come up to him and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. 

She helped organize everyone into a single file line so they can all orderly get a turn to sit in Even’s lap. 

“That is the best thing I’ve ever seen,” Eva said when Noora joined her and Isak again. They watched as Even greeted kid after kid, each time his smile getting wider. 

“He’s really good with kids, huh?” Eva asked, watching Even make a small boy giggle. 

“Yeah, that’s why I wanted him to do it this year,” Noora shrugged, “that and my other guy backed out this year but last year Even said he wanted to do it one year, so I let him do it tonight.” 

“Have you guys thought about kids, Isak?” Eva looked past Noora at Isak. 

“I don’t really know. It is something we talk about sometimes but we’re focusing more on the wedding for right now. Which we still haven’t started to plan yet,” Isak laughed. 

They chatted for the rest of the night, talking about work and other things. Eva and Isak hadn’t seen each other face to face in weeks, just on the phone, so they caught up while Noora stood back and observed. 

It was reaching 22:00 when there were only about three families still there and all the smaller kids and their parents were gone. Even noticed them at the sidelines and stared at them blankly, the other three holding back their laughs as he sat there awkwardly. 

Noora kindly escorted the remaining people left, telling them she appreciated their visit. More money was shoved into her hand and she accepted, thanking them sincerely and sending them away. 

“I expect half of that,” Even said when she walked back over to the group. They all laughed, but Even faked seriousness. “I’m not joking. I have a wedding to plan.”

“Can we go inside? I’m fucking freezing,” Isak said, already turned to leave. Noora nodded and the boys left, whispering to each other. 

“You were right, I did not regret that,” Eva said, smiling. 

“It was a treat, for sure,” Noora commented, looking at the couple as they walked inside her house. 

“Thanks.”

“For what? For inviting you?” Noora was confused. 

“No, just... thank you. For everything.”

“I don’t understand,” Noora made a face.

“You don’t have to.” Eva steppes closer, looking down at the blushing Noora, “just know that I’m thankful for you in my life.”

Noora nervously laughed when she realized Eva wasn’t trying to joke with her. Her face was serious and her eyes were focused on her lips, watching as they opened and closed trying to find the right thing to say. 

“Oh,” Noora whispered when Eva starting inching closer towards her face. She could feel her warm breath on her lips. She closed her eyes and her fingertips started to tingle, waiting to cling on to Eva. 

They were just centimeters apart when Eva pulled away, her eyes widening when they both heard the door open to her house. 

Isak and Even stood there, oblivious to their moment and chatting still. Even was the first to notice. 

“Oh, hi, we were just-“

“Nope, nope, nope, go back,” Isak pushed Even back into the house. “Go back, go back, go back.”

Even tried to protest but he was shoved into the door and with one final smile from Isak, the door was shut. 

The girls stood in a tense silence, both of them still staring at the door. Noora’s eyes were still dilated and she was scared to look at the brunette. 

“So,” Eva sighed, “I’m going to take off.”

“Oh, okay,” Noora smiled when Eva pulled her in for another hug. “I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, tomorrow maybe we can meet for breakfast?” Eva said, already walking away from Noora. 

“Uh, yeah, just text me in the morning,” Eva nodded and she turned fully, walking back to her house. 

Noora ran her hands through her hair and over her face, blushing dark red. She wanted to slap the stupid smile off of her face, wanted to stop the butterflies in her stomach when she remembered Eva’s proximity to her. 

She walked back into the house to see Isak and Even on the couch, Isak all but scolding his fiancé for something she wasn’t quite sure about. 

“How’d it go?” Isak rushed to her side. 

“How did what go?” Noora took her jacket off and pushed past Isak, sitting down on the couch with an exhausted sigh. 

“Noora, don’t play dumb,” when she shrugged again, he whined, “Noora!”

“Nothing happened, okay? We were close to kissing and then you guys walked out-“

“See?! I fucking told you, Even!” Isak turned back to the older boy, who was confused as to what was going on since he has been scrolling on his phone for the past few minutes. 

“What did I do? I just wanted to go eat, is that such a crime?” Even held his hands up in question. 

“Yes, but... ugh, never mind,” Isak ran a hand through his hair. “What happened after we went back inside?” 

“She just said she wanted to go to breakfast tomorrow.” Noora furrowed her eyebrows. “Why are you so invested in our lives, Isak?”

“Because I haven’t seen Eva this happy in a long time since her last girlfriend, and if you’re the girl she’s been talking about for the past few weeks, then I want her to be with you. She’s one of my best friends and I can’t stand it when she’s sad.”

“How are you so sure I’m the girl she’s talking about, though?”

“I have a feeling. What matters is that you get with her, because I saw the way you acted around her, I saw the way you looked at her, and that was just from tonight. And those feelings are one hundred percent reciprocated if you just take a chance.” 

Noora leaned back on her sofa and thought about it. Maybe he was right. But she didn’t want to put herself out there for someone again. Then again, wasn’t she already a bit too deep?

“I’ll talk to her during breakfast tomorrow, okay?” She said after a few minutes. 

“Do you promise?” Isak looked at her suspiciously. 

“I promise.”

— — —

Actually, that was lie. Their moment was never addressed again. 

They did go out for brunch (Noora woke up a bit too late for breakfast) the next morning, but just had small talk, nothing too serious regarding the night before. And just as always, their hugs lasted a few seconds longer than they should’ve. 

It was the Friday before Christmas when Even backed out of the position. He said he had plans and couldn’t bail, and even though Noora greatly doubted that, she still let him go. The other guy who was supposed to do it in the first place was pleaded by Noora to come back to fill the position, so he was now sitting in the Santa chair, letting children climb into his lap and take photos with them. 

It was about 21:20 when people starting filtering out, giving Noora their goodbyes and thank you’s, which she appreciated greatly. 

She was unplugging the lights for the night when she heard someone approach her. 

“Sorry, hours are over,” she said, turning around, but she recognized the figure as Eva and smiled. “Oh, hi, Eva,”

“Hi,” she walked up to Noora, “did I miss the show?”

“Yeah, except it wasn’t Even this time,” Noora said, unplugging the last extension. 

“I know, he and Isak had a date night.”

“Really? How do you know?” Noora stood up fully, trying her best to look at Eva through the darkness. 

“It was all over Isak’s Instagram page. He’s become a lot more self-centered since he’s met Even,” she laughed. “He didn’t tell you?”

“No, but I don’t understand why.” 

“Hm. Maybe he thought he needed a valid excuse other than just a date night.”

They stood in silence, Noora looking awkwardly at the ground. “So why’d you come over if you knew Even wasn’t going to be here?” She shook her head. “That sounded rude. But you’ve already seen the display so why did you come by?”

“I actually wanted to talk to you.” Eva looked over Noora’s facile features and watched her cheeks blush and her eyes sparkle. “But inside, please. I’m wearing three layers of clothes and I’m still freezing.”

Noora laughed, “Yeah, come on.”

They took off their coats and jackets and set them on the coat rack by the door, and settled on the sofa with a cup of hit chocolate each. 

“So,” Eva began, “do you remember how when we first met, you said Isak said I didn’t really like the holidays?”

“Yeah?” Noora blew on the liquid in her cup. 

“There’s a reason for it.” She took a breath. “When I was sixteen, I came out during the holidays. Christmas dinner, actually. I was stupid for thinking that everything would go fine because it didn’t. My dad stormed out and my mom followed him, and I felt so bad for ruining that moment. Because Christmas was a big deal and had a very significant sentiment to my family, so why did I have to go and ruin it?

“I ran away from home shortly after. Just that afternoon I packed up my stuff and left while my mom was in the back trying to console my father, because for some reason me being into girls was a big deal to him. I mean, I’m still into guys, you know? So why was it such a big deal, that I liked girls, too? You know?” Noora nodded. “I stayed at Isak’s for a bit, but then he moved out, so I started staying at Jonas’ for a while. We were broken up by then, so being together 24/7 pushed us back together. Big mistake,” Eva laughed. “We had tons of fights, double the amount of when we were dating the first time.

“But that’s not even the end. When I was in college, I met this new girl. She was super pretty and smart and so, _so_ funny , at that point in my life I had never laughed that hard. She was the light of my life and put a smile on my face when I woke up next to her every morning,” Eva smiled at the memory, but it quickly disappeared. “In my last year of college she started acting weird. She would claim she had classes late but her excuses didn’t line up with her actual schedule, and when I confronted her about it, she would snap at me and tell me that I was just being paranoid. I shut up after that and tried by best to believe her. And then Christmas rolled around and she went to see family while I stayed back. She called one night, Christmas Eve, and told me we were done. She didn’t give me an explanation; she just called me and told me it was over. And, god, I cried so hard that night. She didn’t even come by to pick her stuff up herself, she got one of her friends to do it for her. I still have no idea what happened, but I found her picture on some guy’s Instagram a couple months later and assumed she cheated on me. And I was right, because I scrolled done to when she told me it was over, and there were dozens of pictures of him and her while we were still dating.”

“That’s so awful,” Noora commented, Eva nodding. “You deserve so much better than that, Eva.” She put a comforting hand on Eva’s. 

“But,” Eva said, looking down at their hands, “I met someone new. She is funny, and she’s smart, and she’s beautiful, and she is, in my eyes, the human embodiment of perfection. She is so gorgeous, Noora, you wouldn’t believe it.” 

“Really?” Noora said, trying to keep a calm exterior when in reality, her stomach was doing flips and her heart was fluttering when Eva intertwined their fingers. 

“Yeah,” she whispered, almost as if she spoke any louder this moment would shatter, “and I think you know her really well.”

It was deja-vu from last week when they were this close. But this time, nothing was going to interrupt them. 

Eva grabbed the back of the blonde’s neck and kissed her, their lips moving in sync almost instantly. Noora put her hands on Eva’s sweater like she was clinging on for dear life. 

Eva pulled away, red staining her lips, and she smiled. They didn’t stay apart for long, too eager and excited and happy in this moment to ever stop. 

Noora whispered, “I like someone, too. She’s pretty, and she’s caring, and she’s sweet, she has a good heart, and happens to be a very good kisser.”

Eva laughed, pressing her forehead against Noora’s. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” 

They kissed again, Noora climbing into Eva’s lap. They made out for several minutes, only stopping for air. Happy energy flowed into the room, the heavy atmosphere lifting as their kisses grew more heated and passionate.

As Noora slipped off her shirt and Eva kissed her chest, they realized they were at peak happiness. And honestly? They were always at peak happiness when they were around each other, they just didn’t know it until this moment.

**Author's Note:**

> I struggled the most with the end because I had literally no idea how to end it, but here’s the best version, I guess??? it’s cheesy, I know, but this is what my sleep deprived mind has come up with, so please ignore it. also this is my longest fic of the week (not the long though it’s only about 7.5k words) so for some reason I just wanted to point that out. leave kudos if you enjoyed and constructive criticism as well, unless it’s something really negative, because I really like this fic (this is the one I’ve worked on the longest, pretty much the only fic idea I didn’t scrap all week) and would hate to see it hated on :( anyways, goodbye, ily, I’m tired, goodnight


End file.
